That will make room for someone else to have a job and you to partake of the part of life you have been missing out on from working too much. So see, you will be a job creator! Thank you and enjoy.

As to reverse natural selection, you are right; I don't know how we can fix this without becoming uncivilized, but we need to try. We also need to address our welfare system to make it less attractive to "take", but there will always be the bottom of the barrel amongst us and paying them to stay out of our hair may be the best way to deal with them.

posted @ Thursday, January 23, 2014 - 12:43

[quote][b]loveUSA[/b] - And you think this will motivate people to make more money? [/quote]

Seems they sure did make money big time when the tax rates were as high as 90% back in the 1950s and 1960s. How do you think we got to the moon and became the greatest country on earth? Now that our tax rates have been relatively low for the past thirty years, where did the jobs go? Lots of people making obscene amounts of money at low tax rates while the middle class is half dead now. Did low tax rates cause the Great Recession?

posted @ Thursday, January 23, 2014 - 12:30

[quote][b]OCCountry[/b] - not hiring anyone. Any outside service that cannot be completed on part time basis by family members, will be contract services to avoid having to provide health coverage and benefits. [/quote]

The key part of your statement is ".... will be contract services ....". There's an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs which is another way of saying creating jobs. If you work to get the tax code dumped, you could nix your tax preparer which is a way of saying losing jobs. Most CPAs despise the tax laws and would be glad to see their work diminish as a result of its demise. I would think American businesses would be delighted to get out of the medical insurance business. One way or another, everyone will be covered by the ACA. I'd like to see the ACA changed to exempt all businesses from being required to provide coverage, but the medical insurance industry would not stand for that. Of course, with single payer, that would take care of that problem for businesses and the medical insurance industry would be dead and I would dance on its grave.

posted @ Thursday, January 23, 2014 - 12:24

While they were at it, they should have installed two interior cameras to tame the students.

These people are so removed from real life and the people they are supposed to serve that they have no idea that it matters even when it just doesn't look good, not just when it's illegal. It's a game to them. They don't even seem to be aware that what they are doing is in any way wrong as long as they "win" and look like they are being legal. We have got to find a better way to pilot this country. Elected leaders does not seem to be working.

Is this what happens with term limits? Get in there and use the office to go for broke, clean up for yourself and friends, etc. No need to do anything to help get re-elected; just play the game close enough to the rules to keep from getting impeached before your time is up. Upon election, you no longer owe anything to the people, just to those who gave you the money to get elected.

posted @ Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - 19:56

[quote][b]King Minos[/b] - many of the local actors aka "powers-that-be" selfishly and mistakenly believe if they can dominate local media, their policy-making can succeed;[/quote]

Maybe that's true for you, but they are not mistaken when they succeed by such tactics; it works for the majority of people out there. This is where this country is failing, basically by its citizens mindlessly falling for what is basically advertising.

I don't think we as commenters are being blamed for the struggles at the ABH. They have multiple, serious challenges out there that are causing a major transition for the print media and to news gathering all across the world. We are not that important.

posted @ Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - 14:16

I'm sensing a panicky scramble here to avert withdrawal symptoms. A bad habit is one thing; an addiction is rather serious. It'll be okay, really it will. The first step is to admit your powerlessness over incessant commenting.

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 22:30

[quote][b]King Minos[/b] - Sends just the right message! Two can play at this game![/quote]

My goodness, kinda juvenile, don't you think? You can still pontificate via the ABH all you want for less than $10 a month. Or you can pontificate somewhere else for free, if you can find such a forum. You could try to speak your mind on television or radio news. Is that free? Anywhere? Really, put this in perspective, King.

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 22:13

[quote][b]gman129[/b] - Florida and Kentucky generate a lot of tax money from horse racing, why not Georgia? I remember how people were against the lottery, but it has produced money for education. Horse racing might give property owners some relief in our beloved state.
[/quote]

Casinos can generate just as much or more. NO HORSE RACING ! !

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 21:45

"The pursuit was ended when the suspect began cutting off other cars and driving recklessly ....."

Good call. He can be gotten later.

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 21:41

Were the lottery tickets an afterthought?

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 21:38

[quote][b]Athens_Rottweiler[/b] - Can't wait to hear from the ladies [/quote]

What ladies? Are there no males who are against the death penalty?

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 21:07

Medical insurance companies suck! Our entire health care system sucks when every year or so the doctor/patient relationship is torn asunder. Nothing is dependable; nobody knows what anything costs; it's all so complicated that the average person can't even comprehend what's going on; providers play games to increase revenue at the expense of patients and the cost of health care. This is why single-payer or universal health care is the only way to go. Health care does not lend itself to capitalism.

posted @ Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 20:54

First they try to make teachers parent their kids, now they're trying to make law enforcement do it. Who's next? Doctors? How about DFACS?

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 21:59

[quote][b]friendlyfire[/b] - @mpd0.59: Then I would go to Publix or Kroger or Rite Aide or CVS where they are open all the time.
[/quote]

Rite Aide in Danielsville closes for lunch daily. Very irritating.

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 21:38

[quote][b]friendlyfire[/b] - the ACA offers one of the biggest government subsidies about to happen.[/quote]

Health care should not be free market, but what we have had has not been free market since the patient is kept from participation in the commerce of health care by both insurance companies and providers.

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 21:36

At least they aren't so afraid to speak out. That's progress if they don't get punished for it. It amazes me that Putin would think in this day and age he could fool the world with a little glitz. The workers have not been paid and were/are basically slaves, starving slaves. This is known and documented, but he thinks he can say different and be believed. What arrogance!

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 20:41

Casinos, yes; horse racing, NO! Casinos are way more efficient; horses are expensive and racing them is inhumane as is racing dogs.

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 20:09

" And all would have ended up at an out-of-country slaughterhouse had the Gregorys not taken them in."

It's great that the Gregorys have been able to do this; I hope it will endure after them. As much as I love horses, the reason unwanted and wild horses are crammed into livestock trailers and hauled for days without food out of this country is that we, out of a desire to save horses from the slaughter houses, have outlawed horse slaughter. Such a move only causes more suffering for horses.

There is nothing wrong with horse meat for both human and pet consumption. The wild horses are overpopulating and degrading western lands, so we round them up and keep them in feed lots that cost a bundle and crowd the wild horses into a stressful, unnatural existence. This is completely insane!

I wish Temple Grandin could come up with a humane way to slaughter horses so that we could reopen the slaughter houses for horses. Unfortunately, equines are hopelessly flighty, unlike cattle who remain calm if treated right. Wild horses are a resource we should use while still allowing some horses to run free. Of course, cattle need to diminish on federal lands as well, but only significant avoidance of red meat by citizens can make that happen more than it already is happening.

posted @ Monday, January 20, 2014 - 00:04

I have to wonder at the photos. How does that guy have a private phone or face-to-face conversation?

posted @ Sunday, January 19, 2014 - 23:44

[quote][b]friendlyfire[/b] - They are the ones who are really driving up hospital emergency room rates.[/quote]

No, that would be those without any coverage because they don't qualify for Medicaid, are illegal immigrants or choose to gamble that they won't need medical care. If you want to know what drives up all medical costs read this New York Times article. Warning: you will be infuriated with the health care industry itself.

[quote][b]OconeeJoe[/b] - Holy cow, how come I never heard about this?[/quote]

It was in this paper and I sure remember it! Good to have follow-up. I hope they get every last one of those responsible, especially Donna White. And this is not the only facility like this. I'd say most are along these lines, if not this bad. And if you don't like what's happening at any of these facilities (you can't prove anything) and you complain, suddenly they don't have room for your loved one unless you shut up. They all have waiting lists so they don't want for anything. They are owned, managed, overseen, etc. by so many corporate entities and sub-leases and businesses that you can't figure out who to sue. We need to get some serious regulations and laws pertaining to this industry like allowing only one owner who also manages, staffs, operates, cooks, cleans, etc. so that the whole thing sits in only one entity's lap.

posted @ Sunday, January 19, 2014 - 23:22

1832; wow. It’s sad that newspapers find themselves struggling so much that the real journalism we need to depend on has disappeared everywhere. I’ve been expecting this for some time now. It’s been a grand experiment and this development will continue the experiment. If it doesn’t work, the ABH will try something else – or close up shop. That’d be really sad! They have to make money somehow. Maybe this is what it will take to increase the quality and hire more people so that the present group won’t be so stressed.

For me this is good timing. Commenting is a bad habit I haven’t been able to break. With my house going on the market in March, I have packing and spiffing up to do so this works out really well for me. Emotionally and intellectually, commenting has been a unique experience. Though I respect Ed Tant’s views about anonymous commenting, I think there is definitely a place for the total freedom to speak one’s mind that AthensTalks gives us. I just want to know if I can keep all the hats I worked so hard to earn.

I’m no loss for the ABH; I never looked at any advertising except early on that Italian restaurant with the moving ad that was so infuriatingly distracting I couldn’t manage to read the stories. (I happened by that restaurant one day and said to myself, “So that’s where that place is; I’ll never go there, ever!”) I learned from that to zoom in to where I couldn’t see the ads. Now there’s that sudden audio from an out-of-view ad that I have to find and silence; that’s even more infuriating than the moving ads! Who needs this experience? Who wants to pay for it? That peeled down Bell’s ad is nearly as irritating and I can’t close it; it doesn’t move when I move my zoomed in screen to look behind it.

If all the ads were static like in the print version (where I do read some of the ads) I might want to pay for a subscription to the online version. But I get tired of dealing with the accumulating paper so I don’t subscribe to the print edition and I can’t comment on the e-edition which I find a little hard to read. So like cable, I’ll have to do without the ABH and all the friends and enemies I have made here. Thanks to all for this most interesting experience.

Summary:
I'm not saying it's lonely to be a movie critic, but we often find ourselves seated alone in an empty theatre when we're watching new stuff. I know people who say they won't go see anything unless they have at least one other person to go with, but I've always enjoyed having the place to myself.
I'm not saying it's lonely to be a movie critic, but we often find ourselves seated alone in an empty theatre when we're watching new stuff. I know people who say they won't go see anything unless they have at least one other person to go with, but I've always enjoyed having the place to myself.
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As you might imagine, the vast majority of the editorial cartoons available these days for publication through the syndicate which supplies cartoons to the Athens Banner-Herald/OnlineAthens are addressing the situation in Ferguson, Mo., where the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white police officer has touched off a number of demonstrations -- some peaceful, but many not at all peaceful, with tear gas fired by police officers and gunshots fired by some protester.
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